Silent Hill: Townfall Preview – Radio Drama
Platform:
PlayStation 5, PC
Publisher:
Konami, Annapurna Interactive
Developer:
Screen Burn
Release:
Silent Hill: Downfall is, in several ways, following the blueprint for a successful renaissance that worked wonders for Resident Evil. It roared back with a well-received remake of a beloved second entry in 2024’s Silent Hill 2, saw a proper sequel that served as a reinvention of sorts with last year’s Silent Hill f, and now it’s making the jump to first-person in Silent Hill: Townfall. As a fan of developer Screen Burn’s (formerly known as No Code) last released game, the sci-fi horror adventure Observation, I’ve been itching to see how it would handle Konami’s most frightening franchise. After watching a hands-off gameplay demo at Summer Game Fest Play Days, the game looks to be a fusion of franchise staples with Screen Burn’s intriguing quirks.
Screen Burn is based in Glasgow, Scotland, so to imprint its unique cultural roots, Silent Hill: Townfall takes place on the Scottish island of St. Amelia. The bespectacled Simon Ordell returns to this island, beckoned by a mysterious woman appearing on his portable television device, begging him to find her. This handheld CRTV is Townfall’s reinvention of the classic Silent Hill radio and the game’s centerpiece mechanic. The screen occasionally displays video of this woman as her static-filled messages fuel Simon’s search. Screen Burn went as far as to record the CRTV’s videos using old cameras and equipment to create footage that matches the appropriate quality.
As Simon explores the abandoned city streets (with buildings rendered using photo scans of real Scottish towns), the sense of dread immediately sets in. There’s no music, and the ambient noises that occasionally break the oppressive silence can be startling. The CRTV acts as a compass of sorts; following the static signal eventually leads him to a house. Simon knocks, but no one answers. However, the door is ajar, so he cautiously creaks it open and enters the abode.
A pile of letters lies at Simon’s feet, the top of which is addressed to Zoe Ellis. Simon calls out to Zoe, but again is met with silence. It’s here that Screen Burn tells us that Simon is not a chatty protagonist. He rarely speaks aloud when he’s alone, so his inner thoughts are presented as plain text on screen, such as “No one is here,” or “The girl in this photo looks happy” when examining a framed picture. As he inspects both floors of the impressively rendered home, Simon finds gauze used for healing and a flashlight missing batteries. Later, he enters the kitchen and finds an unexpected and disturbing item: an organ transplant container. A combination lock seals the box shut, so we’ll have to wait before we see what’s inside. Simon then finds a closet under the stairs, but it’s pitch-black inside. It’s time to look for batteries for the flashlight.
Simon heads upstairs, and at the center of the room sits a side table with a framed portrait of himself. Why would there be a picture of him at this house? As he ponders that, he finds some batteries in one of the rooms, gets the flashlight working, and heads to the stairway closet. Now that he can see inside, he finds the problem: the fuse box needs an electricity card inserted into it. Perhaps it’s because I’m American, but I have no idea how this system works. The demoer explains that, back in the old days in Scotland, you needed to buy special cards from stores to insert into a fuse-box-like panel to turn on the power. Or at least, that’s the gist of it. But this puzzle highlights Screen Burn’s desire to do away with the more outlandish, unrealistic puzzles of other Silent Hill games in favor of more grounded, believable riddles centered on old technology.
Simon needs to visit a news store to find an electric card, which will bring him back onto the streets. He pulls out his in-game town map that marks points of interest and, when flipped over, has a legend on the back. He eventually finds the news store, but the front door is locked; he needs to find another way to enter. Unfortunately, it’s at this point that we meet our first enemy. A grotesque bipedal creature shambles in, its torso bound by straps like it’s wearing a straitjacket. Its head, so to speak, is impaled by a metallic rectangle, giving it’s skull an axe-like appearance. Simon is unarmed, so his safest option is to avoid being seen.
You can peek behind corners, and Screen Burn touts how its take on this mechanic is more advanced, meaning you can peek at additional, more flexible angles while remaining concealed. We also get to see another feature of Simon’s seemingly supernatural CRTV: the ability to reveal enemies through walls. Instead of sticking your neck out to see where a monster lurks, holding up the radio reveals a digital silhouette of nearby threats to provide a heads-up on their position. Using this feature, Simon slips past the monster unseen and enters a back door to the store. He finds an electri-card and his first weapon, a wooden 2×4, and exits. It’s a good thing he found that weapon because he comes face to face with the broad-headed creature he’d previously avoided.
The first-person combat is weighty and deliberate, much like in most Silent Hill games, but in a new perspective. He takes some overhead swings at the monster, creating sickening impacts, but the creature is too fast and too powerful. After just a couple of headbutts, Simon goes down. He may be fragile, but he has a useful and intriguing trick up his sleeve in the ability to instantly revive. This is due to an IV that’s, for some reason, attached to his left arm, and the revive can only be done once per death, it seems. We don’t get to see how round two goes because it’s here that the demo ends.
I love first-person Resident Evil games because I find the more intimate perspective ratchets up the scares tenfold. The same feels true of Silent Hill: Townfall. The demo retained the oppressive atmosphere I’d expect from the series as well as some presentational and gameplay staples, and I’m intrigued to see Screen Burn layer its own take on puzzle-solving. I don’t know what to make of Simon or his plight yet, but it has my curiosity as well as my attention. I look forward to uncovering the answers when Silent Hill: Townfall launches on September 24.
